"After my death our beloved Church abroad will break three ways .... first the Greeks will leave us as they were never a part of us ... then those who live for this world and its glory will go to Moscow ... what will remain will be those souls faithful to Christ and His Church." St. Philaret of NY 1985

Uncovering Relics - Informal Account

The following is an informal account from a believer about thetranslation of the remains of Metropolitan Philaret:

"On the third of November, 1998 (O.S.), the coffin of Vladika Metropolitan Philaret was opened in the presence of some priests. I spoke with two of these priests.

They found Vladika's body all covered with a white substance. There was some white mold on the clothes. When they cleaned off this white mold they found the face and hands of Vladika to be completely intact. It was even noted that the body and the skin were in better shape and lighter in color than Vladika John's of Shanghai. The priest washed his hands and face with water and wine. He said that you could see the veins under the skin; and his beard was completely soft. His face was recognizable; even his mouth, which had a little paralysis on the left could be seen. They saw a part of the leg which was also completely intact and soft. They didn't look through the whole body because this is needed to be done by a commission appointed by a decision of the Synod.

What really surprised them was that the material in the coffin surrounding the body was still shining white. A funeral director remarked about this that usually after the third year this material turns black. The vestments of Vladika were shining and bright. The prayer rope in his hand, a green chotki, was like brand new. The piece of paper in the hand (Prayer of Absolution), had no mold and was very clean like fresh paper. On his mitre were paper icons that were bright and had no signs of fading or disintegration. The cloth that covered his face (which is put over the Holy Gifts on the Altar table), was also bright, like brand new.

One thing was affected by decay. The metal clasps on the Gospel were corroded and went to pieces when touched. This is important to note. It was being said by some that the reason for the incorruption of Vladika's body was due to the cold place, "like a refrigerator", in which his coffin had been laid . But the funeral director said that this is not the case at all. The metal parts which were corroded show the condition of the moisture in the coffin. The paper, the fabrics inside the coffin, and the body of Vladika were not affected.

Another point of note was the coffin of Vladika. It was painted black with a white cross. It was like brand new, as if it had been painted yesterday. There were no signs of rotting. The same was true of the mantia covering Vladika's body. It was clean and shining. One person who was there noted that a button on the mantia was corroded by the moisture.

I asked one of the priests what was the feeling when the coffin was opened. He said it was very peaceful, very calm, very solemn.

Then Vladika Laurus came and put a seal on the coffin. After that pannikhidas were served each day during that week, from Monday to Friday. I was there a couple of times. When people venerated his coffin they said they felt it was not an ordinary coffin; they felt some special grace there.

On Friday, the 8th of November (O.S.), the coffin was taken to the main church. It was a rainy day. There were lots of people in the church. A pannikhida was served. The coffin was put in the middle of the church at the beginning of the service, then it was put to the side, on the right, near where the confessions are usually heard. I noticed many people were coming with candles to the coffin and venerating it all during the service.

The next morning, Saturday, the Feast of the Archangel Michael and All Angels, there were about 300 people in church. There were about 30 clergy serving; there was Vladika Laurus, about eleven deacons, and the rest were priests.

At the Liturgy, Fr. Valery Lukianov gave the homily. He remarked on the last words found in Metropolitan Philaret's typewriter: "...hold that fast which thou hast...", (Rev. 3:11). Father Valery said that this is what we must do; to obey and be truthful to the Faith of the Church. He said that maybe Vladika wasn't so good an administrator, but he was a great man of prayer and a true faster. After Liturgies, they would gather to eat and Vladika wouldn't eat after all these services, just have some tea. A few times he would have a little something, but he would eat like a bird. This would surprise everybody because of all his praying and serving. Where did he get such strength?

He told how Vladika was a very merciful man. He helped many people. He helped many people with money and nobody knew about it; he did it in secret. Fr. Valery knew of one woman who came to Vladika; she was broke, with two children, whose husband had abandoned them. Vladika helped her. When Vladika was in his coffin, this same woman was there standing by his coffin, weeping with tears of gratitude for what he had done for her and her children.

Vladika was a very educated man, theologically, and knew the Fathers of the Church very well. Vladika's teaching against ecumenism was rooted in his knowledge of the teachings of the Fathers; it wasn't made up on his own. The greatest events took place while he was Metropolitan. He oversaw the glorification of many Saints: in 1981, the glorification of the New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia, including the Royal Martyrs, also St. Herman of Alaska, Blessed Xenia of St. Petersburg, and St. John of Kronstadt. These are truly significant events.

Vladika loved children and young people. At Synod he would have tea parties for boys and girls. He would invite them to talk and discuss things about Church life and the Bible. He truly loved the young generation and cared for their souls. There are many now (no longer young), who can remember how Vladika paid attention to them. He was very calm and very prayerful. He really was a great man of prayer. This and many more things did Father Valery say in his sermon.

After the Divine Liturgy, there was a Pannihkida. Vladika Laurus came out and spoke a few words then. What he said really surprised everybody. Many people who came were disappointed that the coffin was not opened. Some people came to Vladika Laurus to ask him about this. Vladika said that today, once more, we are saying "good-bye" to Vladika Philaret. He was a great man and he was sure that he will be glorified. He explained to the people, who were sorrowful that the coffin was not opened the reasons for this. There are some who felt that the coffin should be buried; let soil go back to soil. If he would open the coffin now it would already be like a veneration of relics and this shouldn't be done yet, as it is against canons. Some are ready to see his body as relics, but some are not ready to see his body as relics; so to prevent some wrong thoughts or feelings, the coffin wouldn't be opened. Vladika Philaret loved the canons, he obeyed them, so now we have to do everything according to the canons. Now a presentation will be made at the meeting of the Synod and we will wait for whatever the Synod will decide. We will just put the coffin in the hole, but not put soil over it. He repeated that people should not be sorrowful that the coffin was closed; Vladika is still with us. He was a holy man and he is with God, and now after seeing that his body was intact, it is an invitation for us to pray to Vladika. And if miracles occur, then it will be a sign, a confirmation to us for the glorification of Vladika Philaret, which he believes will soon take place. It will take place soon. Thirteen years Vladika has lain there and many times he received a request to move his coffin to a different place. Providentially, it did not happen. Now that we have opened the coffin and knowing the conditions where the coffin was, we can see how God showed glory in this man.

Some people said that they were not surprised that Vladika's remains were found incorrupt, because he was a holy man. The people who knew him well and were close to him knew him as a man of deep prayer, a wise spiritual struggler , a faster, and an immovable rock in upholding the integrity of the Faith."

RUSSIAN

Audio

"And here is something to which I would like to draw your attention to – something about which very many do not think about. Father Archimandrite Constantine, whom probably many of you know, the reposed editor of the journal “Orthodox Rus’”, a profound Christian mind, considered that the most terrible among all the achievements of the communists was that the communists created their own false-church, a soviet church which they shoved onto the unfortunate people in place of the genuine Church which went underground into the catacombs. Do not think that I am exaggerating or that Father Constantine was exaggerating!

Once, in the year 1918, a Pan-Russian Church Council was held. At this Council, the entire Pan-Russian Church together with its first holy hierarch, Patriarch Tikhon ANATHEMATIZED, excommunicated from the Church not only the theomachists and godless ones themselves, but also ALL THOSE WHO WOULD COLLABORATE WITH THEM."

ETC.

Prayer to St. Philaret

O our Saintly father Philaret, God chosen confessor of recent times, true Orthodox hierarch, guide, upholder and dependable intercessor before God for all true Orthodox faithful, standing and praying for them before God’s altar: implore our ever benevolent God to forgive us our sins and wash them away through our repentance. Through your prayers, save us from calumny of the godless and endow us with a fear of God, so that we may remain faithful children of Christ’s True Church to the end. Strengthen us in the confession of our Faith, so that we will not be frightened of persecution or suffering, and should we suffer for our Orthodox Faith, grant us strength not to reject Christ and not to accept the mark of the accursed antichrist.

In not hiding your labours and enduring extreme conditions for the sake of True Orthodoxy, we extol and propagate your good works:

Glorifying the Royal Martyrs and the new Russian Confessors of Orthodoxy; for giving all true Orthodox Christians a true Apostolic succession; for anathematizing ecumenism that is the heresy of all heresies, and maintaining the rightness of authority through the unwavering truth of Christ’s words.

We lay before you our prayer for your help, blessing and intercession, and at all times beseech your prayers for us.

Do not cease to utter prayers to the Lover of Man God for the small flock of true Orthodox Christians, and may He grant peace to his Church, and may He deliver Her from heresies and schisms. May He also deliver us from the darkness of sin and lusts, from the clandestine snares of the sly antichrist, and may we remain steadfast unto death in confessing our holy Orthodoxy, so that in the end we may without condemnation receive Communion of the Lord’s Holy Flesh and Blood from true clergy. And at the close of our lives, may we secure mercy and clemency from the Lord, Who created us and gave us life and made us what we are, and to Whom is due every glory, praise, honour and adoration, with the eternal Father and Holy Spirit, now and ever, and to the ages of ages.

Amen

PRAYER

O Hierarch of Christ Philaret, with contrition of heart we glorify thee and entreat thee. Having boldness before the Holy Trinity, One in essence and undivided, intercede that the Russian Church not be divided: that the Lord keep it from being cut asunder, as St. Mark of Ephesus plead; may He save it from ruptures in its body, as prayed the Hierarch Philaret of Moscow; and may He preserve also the lot of thine episcopate, the Russian diaspora, scattered among the nations, instructing them in the Orthodox Faith, bearing unfeigned witness to the truth, confessing the faith of the holy fathers, preserving the language of Saints Methodius and Cyril in the order of the divine services, and celebrating the feasts of the Church of Christ as of old.

Through thy prayers, may the Lord grant the wisdom of serpents and the purity of doves to His hierarchs, apostolic love and prophetic zeal, the patience and sympathy and total forgiveness of Christ. That He confirm the pastors in care for their spiritual children, teaching them to flee the attractions of this fallen world, that He enrich their knowledge with the glad tidings of the Gospel, keep their hands impartial to filthy lucre, direct their feet to preaching the Gospel of peace, preserve their hearts in purity. That He grant monastics the spirit of obedience, chastity, self-restraint, observing the monastic rules, confirmed in nonpossessiveness. And to the people of God, the infants, young boys and girls, men and women and the aged may He grant health of soul and body, the spirit of faith, the spirit of love, the spirit of loyalty to their Orthodox faith. And for all of us to acquire blessedness and inherit the heavenly Kingdom. Amen

Tone III

The Hierarchs of Christ today stand in the assembly of the Saints * and with the angelic choirs pray to God for us; * together with them also the Hierarch of the Lord Philaret * a canon of faith and icon of meekness * who appeared to his flock as a teacher of continence * having acquired by humility things lofty and by poverty riches * he intercedeth for our souls.

Tone IV

Graced with an apostolic mind * enthroned with the Hierarchs of the Russian Church * divinely wise cultivator of the Russian diaspora * confessor of the love of Christ * zealot of Orthodoxy * Holy Father Philaret our Hierarch * entreat Christ our God * to establish spiritual unity in the Church of our Fathers * and to save our souls.

Troparion Tone IV

From childhood thou gavest thyself wholly to the Lord, abiding in prayer, labors and fasting, O God-bearing Philaret, and becamest a model of shining virtue for thy flock; therefore, beholding thy pious disposition, God appointed thee a shepherd and valiant hierarch for His Church, and after thy repose preserved thy holy body incorrupt. Wherefore, beseech Him fervently that He save our souls.

Kontakion Tone II

SPEC. MEL. "SEEKING THE HIGHEST"

Ascending on thy virtues as upon a fiery chariot, thou art united to the noetic ranks on high, O Philaret. Wherefore, thou art now a converser with the angels, O holy one, praying unceasingly with them to Christ God in behalf of us all.

HYMN TONE 3

O Holy Confessor, Philaret, Intercessor for the remnant, Thy holy relics were revealed to us on St. Michael's day, Confounding the enemy, And strengthening us for the trials to come. Thou art a sure guide on the Royal Path. O Blessed leadership! O steadfast truth-lover, Pray to God for us.

QUOTE

A man who does not express a desire to link himself to the latest of the saints (in time) in all love and humility owing to a certain distrust in himself, will never be linked to the preceding saints and will not be admitted to their succession, even though he thinks he possesses all possible faith and love for God and for all His saints. He will be cast out of their midst, as one who refused to take humbly the place allotted to him by God before all time, and to link himself to that latest saint (in time) as God had disposed.